Ireland lands latest 1Gbps tech hub, with Galway centre up to speed

Galway Technology Centre has joined a growing list of hubs around Ireland sporting 1Gbps connectivity.

A total of 40 companies in Galway are now benefiting from increased internet speeds after the Galway Technology Centre (GTC) became the first such facility in the west of Ireland to provide a 1Gbps fibre service.

The hub collaborated with Galway-based ISP Lightnet on the €400,000 investment, with resident companies working in software, gaming, design, intellectual property, media and communications.

One of these businesses is 9th Impact, a mobile gaming firm that recently featured in Siliconrepublic.com’s Start-up of the Week series.

Finn Krewer, head of development at the company, said the added connectivity will help to satisfy his company’s user base, 98pc of which is outside of Ireland.

“The games communicate with our servers; sending and receiving information, so having super-fast and reliable broadband connection is critical to our business,” he said, adding that the GTC base can easily expand on the back of this upgrade.

“Our newest game, launching next July, is a live multiplayer racing game, which has significantly higher real-time communications demands, so we are thrilled to have a world-class fibre connection direct to our door.”

Ultra-fast connectivity is a must among many businesses, with a growing number of innovation and technology hubs emerging in recent months.

In February, for example, The Mill in Drogheda added a second phase to its footprint, becoming Siro’s latest 1Gbps facility, smack-bang in the middle of what many hope will become an M1 ‘payments corridor’.

Louth is home to major international companies such as PayPal in Dundalk, so a focus on this industry makes further sense.

Last July, Skibbereen in Cork welcomed its own 1Gbps digital facility called the Ludgate Hub. With hopes of creating 500 jobs, the 10,000 sq ft facility provides broadband speeds triple that of “the market-leading service in Dublin”.

Updated, 1.56pm, 4 April 2017: This article was updated to remove incorrect usage of the female pronoun in reference to Finn Krewer.